M., w. squash begin seasons with victories

The men's squash team entered its season-opening matches against Western Ontario and Cornell looking to make a statement. After weekend action in which the Tigers dominated their opponents by scores of 7-2 and 9-0, it is safe to say that the squash world has heard the roar of the orange and black.

Princeton (2-0 overall), the nation's second best team last season, entered this year ranked No. 4 in the national preseason polls, behind perennial power Trinity and archrivals Harvard and Yale. The Tigers, who have been fighting with Trinity for tops in the nation several years running, lost four of their top five players to graduation and have therefore had to fill key lineup spots with freshmen talent. Consequently, for the first time in several seasons, the Tigers seem vulnerable.

Western Ontario and Cornell both looked to capitalize on the Tigers' youth and lack of experience in these early matches. The morning draw against Ontario saw Princeton win all but two matches. Junior Dent Wilkens, elevated to No. 2 position after last year's losses to graduation, played a great match against a tough opponent, and sophomore No. 1 Yasser El-Halaby dominated as usual.

Between matches, head coach Bob Callahan made sure the team was not taking its next opponent too lightly. The preseason No. 5 team, Penn, lost to Cornell earlier in the season, and the Big Red also added a victory over Western Ontario to their resumé. Cornell, now ranked directly below Princeton, came into its match-up with the Tigers looking to pull off the upset and to take Princeton's spot in the national polls.

But Princeton quickly crushed Cornell's illusions of joining the squash elite, routing the Big Red by sweeping all nine official matches. Eight of them went to Tiger players by a 3-0 score, and Wilkens again provided the heroics by coming back from a 2-0 deficit to give the Tigers the sweep.

"The Cornell win was big for us," junior No. 5 Nate Beck said. "[The Big Red] were basically ranked directly below us and thought they had a chance to beat us, but we made a big statement."

Commanding wins

In its first two games of the season Sunday afternoon, the women's squash team posted commanding wins in defeating Trinity, 8-1, and Cornell, 9-0.

In 17 of its 18 wins, Princeton won, 3-0. Sophomore No. 1 Ruchika Kumar's 3-2 loss to Trinity was the Tigers' only defeat on the day.

Kumar, who enjoys a national rank of No. 5, led the team last season and is expected to do so again this year. She will be bolstered by the help from the Tigers' new class of freshmen.

Women's squash has added five freshmen to its roster, although only three played in last weekend's matches. No. 3 Genevieve Lessard, No. 5 Marilla Hiltz and No. 6 Anina Nolan all triumphed over their respective opponents, 3-0, in both their matches.

Princeton, despite being ranked No. 6 in the preseason poll, is excited about the season and, by all indications, has very good reason to be.

The Tigers have returned seven of their top nine. In an all-Ivy scrimmage, Princeton came in second behind Yale, topping teams ranked above it, including Harvard, Penn and Dartmouth.

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It also returns to the roster senior No. 2 Annie Rein-Weston. She took last season off to study abroad but doesn't seem to be showing any difficulty in her return, winning both her matches.

In fact, several of Princeton's women's squash players are showing up on the individual national rankings. The Tigers have six of their athletes among the top 30 female squash players in the country. Trinity has the most with seven, but Princeton and Yale are tied for second.

Trinity, however, has not yet shown its entire hand. None of its top seven were at the match this Sunday. Instead, the Bantams withheld them in order to keep Princeton from getting a peek at what to expect at the Howe Cup this February.

The Trinity team has won the national intercollegiate title two years in a row. The Bantams also have included in their lineup Amina Helal and Lynn Leong, the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players, respectively, in the country, Helal has been the College Squash Association's Individual Champion two years in a row.